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RAIN STOPS AT LAST IN FRANCE; 2 VILLAGES NEAR CAEN CAPTURED

July 24, 1944 Edition of Stars and Stripes

Allied forces lashed out at several points along the Normandy battlefront in improving weather yesterday, after a virtual halt in the offensive during three days of drenching rain.

Soldiers of the 3rd Canadian Division pose as they enter Caen

British and Canadian troops captured two villages, Etevaux and bitterly contested Maltot, about four miles southwest of Caen along the Orne River. Near Esquay, two miles southwest of Maltot, three German counter-attacks were beaten back.

A small American force crossed the Seves River and gained a firm hold on the village of Seves, about three miles north of Periers—a move that threatened to cut the Carentan-Periers road below another American push down the road near Raids—after driving through a heavy barrage of German mortar and artillery fire.

Beat Back Germans

Between Periers and St. Lo, American troops beat back a German counterattack on the St. Lo-Periers-Lessay road, which was considered “no man’s land,” with neither side able to use it.

An American bazooka team prepares to engage a target in France

Lessay was reported to be still held by small force of Germans. One dispatch said that Americans had cleaned out a small pocket of German resistance in the Lessay area—possibly north of Lessay at the road junction, which the Germans were last reported to be defending fiercely.

British troops tightened their grip on Troarn, several miles east of Caen, with the capture of Emieville, a hamlet 2 ½ miles southwest of Troarn.

Activity was restricted by bad weather over the weekend. Communique No. 93 on Saturday was five words long: “There is nothing to report.”